Medical researchers in Nottingham have received a transformational £23.6 million package of government funding to expand their pioneering work into new treatments and diagnostics for a wide range of health problems.

The University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals Trust will establish a large new Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) which will incorporate two existing smaller Biomedical Research Units in the city. The Nottingham BRC will be the leading UK hub in five key areas of health research:

Deafness and hearing loss

Gastrointestinal and liver disease

Respiratory medicine

Musculoskeletal disease

Mental health technology

At the core of the Biomedical Research Centre will be Nottingham’s world-leading expertise in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It means the latest medical imaging research and technology pioneered here can be translated into real benefits for patients in all five of the BRC’s research areas.

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The funding is part of a record package of £816 million research support announced by the Department of Health. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “The UK has so often led the world in health research, we are now making sure we stay ahead of the game by laying the foundations for a new age of personalised medicine. We are supporting the great minds of the NHS to push the frontiers of medical science so that patients in this country continue to benefit from the very latest treatments and the highest standards of care.”

Professor Ian Hall, the Director of the Nottingham BRC, said: “I am absolutely delighted that the strengths of Nottingham's biomedical research has been recognised by the award of Biomedical Research Centre status. This represents a step change for Nottingham which will facilitate the delivery of translational research which we hope in the future will benefit patients not only in Nottingham but throughout the UK and beyond. At the core of our centre will be our world leading expertise in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).”

Dr Maria Koufali, Deputy Director of Research & Innovation, for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "The new Centre in Nottingham will drive innovation and internationally competitive translational research in therapeutic areas which are highly relevant to the health of our patients and public. NUH is one of the leading NHS Trusts in developing research which will address important clinical questions and improve outcomes for patients. The new Biomedical Research Centre will further strengthen Nottingham's position as a leading city for research and innovation."

For more information about how to get involved in research at your local hospitals, please visit: /research-innovation/ and follow @UoNResearch and @nuhresearch.

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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. It is ranked in the world’s top 75 by the QS World University Rankings 2015/16, and 8th in the UK for research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for four years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities.